Broken Bonds, Broken Souls
by Varmint
Summary: The Bird broke me. The Bat sentenced me to hell. The Justice Idiots crossed me. And my poor, poor Team got all the heat. I'm not one to take anything lying down, nor the kind to let innocents get hurt. I'm Wallace West, and I'm the Real Monster. Sequel to 'Watch Me Burn'. Warning: WAY darker than before. Be prepared for completely sick and twisted Wally.
1. Chapter 1

_And then he cut me once more. This time in my other arm. Then another time, that time in my leg. He just kept slicing and slicing, but I didn't fight back, because I didn't want to... Not anymore. I was numb physically... I didn't feel anything... Not anymore. Then, as he cut slices into my face, I heard his voice._

_"Get away from him, Robin!" Kaldur yelled, making the bird look up from me._

_I sluggishly looked up, too, and found Kaldur, Raquel, Conner, Zatanna, and M'gann all standing there, the girls with horrified looks at what their bird had done, while the boys were glaring at him._

_"Get away from him, Robin." Kaldur repeated, voice getting deadly serious._

_I hadn't seen it, but Robin had been pushing me towards the edge of the docks, nearing the deep and deadly sea. Robin glared at me, but still did as told. "I don't know why you're helping him, you know what he did to Artemis and me!" It was only one step back, the distance he moved. He could still easily push me towards the sea._

_Kaldur glared at him, and took a step forward. "Yes, but he had reason to! You attacked him, Robin! What would you have done in his shoes?!"_

_Robin growled, and pointed at me with real anger. "I would not have tried to murder my attackers!"_

_"I do not care what you are thinking was his objective, Robin. Step away from Wally right now." Kaldur was... Wow... Kaldur was angry._

_I don't know, but right now, it was like I wasn't even in my body. It's like I was seeing what was happening, I was there in that moment... But I just wasn't feeling it. I was hearing it, I was seeing it, but I just could not feel it._

_"It's not fair!" Robin yelled, and was suddenly back with me, his bloodied birdarang on my throat. "How can you back up a murderer, yet you can't see that I'm doing what's best for everybody!?"_

_"Robin, please." This time it was Zatanna. "Don't do this... Think about what would happen if Batman found out."_

_"Please, Robin, don't do this." And this was M'gann._

_Their emotions... They actually hurt me... I felt tears prick my eyes, and before I could stop them, they were flowing. "M'gann!" I choked out, getting the attention of all of them. "I'm sorry! I never should have said those things..." Then I apologized to each and every one of them. "Kaldur, I'm sorry I was a dick. Don't you dare stop being yourself, you're awesome. Supey, I'm sorry I hurt you... I never meant to hurt anyone." And I choked there once more. God, I was so stupid. "Raquel, I really am sorry."_

_And this time she spoke. "Stop talking as if you were gonna die, idiot!"_

_I laughed at this, then finished, "And Zatanna, I'm sorry you had to live through this." Then I turned to look at Robin, who was glaring down at me. "But I apologize with all of my heart because you're stuck with a backstabber like Robin..."_

_And that did it. I heard Kaldur yell to Robin to stop, but I didn't react. I heard Conner yell at me to run away, but I didn't run. I heard Zatanna try to curse Robin, but I didn't smile. I just fell. I saw the dark sky, cold and unforgiving, glaring down at me. Time passed as slow as ever, seconds dragged into months and years, then I saw her face. The woman that had started all of this._

_"Thank you." And those were the last words I heard before I hit the water._

* * *

Complete and utter darkness was what surrounded me. I felt nothing, not the cuts that I was supposed to have had, not the heartbreak I felt after being 'killed' by my best friend... Nothing.

What I saw; because I couldn't feel anymore, not even the burn that came; was a bright light, coming closer and closer to me in what felt like both seconds and years, it came so fast that I was afraid, yet so slow that I was calmed.

_'Not your time...'_

I reached my hands up, my body nothing more than a pale silhouette, blank as a canvas and bleak like a ghosts, trying to touch the light with my fingertips.

_'So much more to live for...'_

As soon as I touched it, the light seemed to engulf my whole body, leaving me gasping as I felt tiny pin-pricks all over, not hurtful at all just... Bothersome.

_'His levels are stabilizing, Sir. We might see him back after months of research!'_

And as the light finished wrapping around me, just like a blanket to a scared child, I gasped for air, my lungs burning as if they hadn't been filled in years.

"And he's back!" The person's voice was far away, sounding as if it came from someone that was both underwater and far from me.

"I cannot believe this! He's really alive! Get the Boss! He must know about this!"

I coughed and gasped, trying to fill myself with the oxygen I had been depraved of, spluttering as if I had been underwater myself.

"This truly is a miracle!"

As the minutes passed; seconds in real life; my hearing grew normal, my body stopped feeling as if I had tiny people running all over me, yet I could not open my eyes. The sound of beeping and people bustling around was what met me, making my head ache in a way that I both longed for yet loathed.

"Would you just shut up?" My voice was gravelly and hoarse, sounding nothing like my own, surprising me as I tried to open my eyes.

"Did he say something?" Some random woman asked, making me growl.

No, it was the leprechaun to my right.

"I think he did! I had no idea his vocal chords would already be fixed! This really is a Christmas miracle!" Some other man exclaimed, making me want to shake my head.

"Shut up..." My voice came out hoarse once more, but it seemed that all the movement in this... place had stopped, seeming like everyone was staring at me.

"If he opens his eyes, we won't have to worry about the Boss skinning our hides! Just do that! Open your eyes, boy!" This voice was more clear, deep and old, which made it easier to distinguish from the other voices that seemed to young to differentiate.

I strained to open my eyes, seeing how my eyelids felt like lead and as if they hadn't been used in a long time, but I somehow got them open, quickly having to shield my eyes from the bright light that met me.

"I see I was not lied to. You are all safe, go home." Another voice boomed this time, deep and metallic.

There was a rush of people running from the whole room, and as I slowly lowered my arm down, I cursed myself and my horrible luck.

**Okay, so, second go at this. This time I'm focusing on Wally and what his death caused in his time.**

**I'm very sorry for taking so long to put this up, but now that I have inspiration for it, I hope to continue it till the end!**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: If you don't like death, do not read. This story is going to be _way_ more violent than the first!**

"Manta..." I growled, my voice still deep and hoarse as my vocal chords grew accustomed to being used once more.

"Oh, Kid Flash. It is not a pleasure to see you once more." The robot like man said, his arms behind his back as he stalked towards me, his helmet not allowing me to see what was inside.

Not like I minded, it's better to see cold steel rather than to see the face of a man who has betrayed many people on different occasions.

"You're no Klondike Bar either, Manta." I mumbled back, which only got a scoff from him.

"You speak as if you actually know me, Wallace. When, in reality, you know nothing of me." He was now standing in front of me, and I could just feel the smugness radiating off of him.

I was still on a type of hospital bed, my legs restrained but not my arms. That, my good readers, is where these people I don't know did wrong.

"Oh, I know you, Manta. It's _you_ who knows nothing of _me_."

The man only shook his head, seemingly amused by me and my insolence, and said, "You sure are amusing, Wallace-"

"How the fuck do you even know my name?" I interrupted, not in the mood for him and his stupidity.

While this idiot had tried to grab my attention, another very interesting memory of mine popped up, which led to my current bad mood. The little bird had tried to get rid of me. He pushed me into the water, even when Fish Sticks told him not to, and he was most probably living a comfortable life as Batman's lap rat, with almost nobody knowing the truth of what happened that night.

"Your death caused quite a ripple in the Earth, Wallace. Many people being both relieved and outraged at the Vigilante's death." Manta answered, grabbing my full attention.

"What happened after I died?" I growled, slowly grabbing the blanket on the bed to cover my legs.

Just a few seconds is what I need then I'm free.

"You're death was separated, of course. In three. There was the death of the Vigilante, the death of Kid Flash, then the disappearance of Wallace Rudolph West." He answered, slowly walking around my table, coming to stop in front of me.

I stared up at the glowing red screens that covered his eyes, slowly feeling my anger rise as I just looked at him.

"You sicken me." I spit, completely surprising him.

"Why do you say that?" He asked, actually sounding confused.

"Father of Kaldur'ahm, rapist of Sha'lain'a of Shayeris, sick and twisted helper of the Light. You wonder still?" I asked, really wanting to spit right in his face.

"I did not rape her!" He yelled, losing the cool that I had come to identify with Kaldur's own. "She was my lover! I did _nothing_ she did not want!"

I sneered at him, feeling a sick sense of accomplishment as he lost his top. "So being Black Manta, almost killing your own son, and attacking the King of Atlantis many times is exactly what Sha'lain'a wanted?"

He breathed heavily, then took off his helmet thing, leaving me to smirk on the inside as he showed true weakness in this stupid act. "I am a man of action, Wallace. I do what is right, and I do it on my terms."

"No, you do what is wrong." I told him, vibrating my feet now and managing to get them out of the shackles that held them. "You do whatever you want because you're a sad man that is never happy. But is that because you left the only thing you actually cared about?"

It was somewhat amazing to see this man with his deep scowl and spiteful glare. If he didn't have the white growing on the side of his hair he would've been a perfect picture of my precious Kaldur'ahm. But he wasn't Kaldur, he never would be, and he had hurt him more times than I should have allowed.

"Shut up!" He burst out, finally snapping and punching me in the jaw, making my head snap to the side at the sheer force.

I heard a crack but felt nothing, laughing evilly as I turned back to him, the beautiful and warm crimson colored liquid flowing from my mouth.

"You think a punch is going to hurt me, David?" Slowly I got up, his eyes wide in fear and astonishment as I rolled my neck, hearing pleasant cracks as I did so. "I've gone toe to toe with the Bat, Bane, and many more. I've been on the brink of death way too many times, and you think a measly punch was going to be enough to shut me up?"

"How did you get out? Those were made specially for Superman!" David exclaimed as I smirked at him, rolling my wrists and ankles.

"I feel stiff. How long have I been out?" I asked, looking at him from the corner of my eyes as he slowly back up to the door. "Don't call anyone unless you want them dead."

"What?" He spluttered out, eyes wide at the news.

I turned my body to his, smirking, "I'm the Vigilante... or am I not? You should have known that whenever you took up whatever experiment this is that you would be dealing with a psychopath. Don't be shocked to find out that I'm _nothing_ like Kiddie Flash."

He was quiet after this, thinking over his options, and whispered, "A year." Then he corrected himself, "Well, tomorrow will be a year since the death of the Vigilante, seven more days and a year since Kid Flash's death, then next month it would be a year since Wallace's disappearance."

I nodded at his answers, secretly enjoying the fear he was portraying, and told him, "No need to act like a scared sheep, Manta. I know very well that you're just waiting for me to do anything stupid and you'll be calling security or attacking me. I'm not going do anything." I said, slowly raising my arms so my hands were beside my head. "I promise."

David stared at me contemplatively, then nodded his approval. "You really do know your stuff. How did the League ever misuse you so horribly?"

And with that I smirked at him, suddenly standing beside him with a scalpel in my hand. "I don't know. Guess I just know myself better than they do." I answered, then I was holding his left arm behind his back, twisting his hand back as the scalpel was pressed into his neck. "Then again, knowing myself better also means I can my true nature from any and everyone."

David growled at his own stupidity, knowing that he had gotten himself trapped, and asked, "You have me, Wallace, but what are you going to do? You cannot escape me. We are underwater, five thousand feet underwater if you want to be more specific. If you try to escape you would just die."

I hummed as I nodded from side to side, then dropped the scalpel and started vibrating my hand. "Wanna see a cool trick I learned a year or two ago?" I asked him, and before he could even comprehend the question, my hand had cut straight through his two legs, splattering blood all over me, him, and the room.

He screamed in pain, his face turning into the beautiful scrunch of excruciating pain as he fell slowly, his legs lying somewhere in the room.

"Why!?" He screamed at me, sucking in a big breath to control himself. "Why... Did you... Do that?"

I shrugged as I grabbed the scalpel once more, placing it between the my stomach and pants, finally noticing what I was wearing. Black long sleeved shirt and pants, thin shoes and a prisoner bracelet on my wrist.

"Huh. Experiment W-4?" I asked him, an eyebrow raised.

"You will not getting anything from me!" He yelled, writhing in pain as he grasped at the stubs.

"Okay. Do it your way." I shrugged, then I grabbed him by his shoulders and sped him towards his hangar, leaving people stunned as I passed them.

As soon as I arrived I threw him at one soldier, quickly getting to work on the few patrolmen that were there.

"Punchy punchy!" I laughed in glee as my vibrating fist went straight through one guy's armor, then giggled evilly as he accidentally shot another guy's head.

One by one all the men went down, Manta staring in shock and disgust as he could do nothing, but I was elated. As soon as I had locked the hangar from the inside I stood before him, sick smirk engraved on my lips.

"Year out of action and I haven't lost my touch!" I chuckled, then grasped him by the shoulder as I dragged him to the nearest ship.

"Let go of me, you dirty bastard! Let go of me this instant! Before you feel my true wrath!"

I just sighed as I threw him inside the ship, hitting the shiniest button there and sat back comfortably as we ejected into the water.

"Your time has come!" He screamed out of nowhere, jumping onto me; and really, I'm surprised he could do this... Seeing how he had no legs and all.

But I just threw him off of me and cut his arms off, leaving him a stub of a human body.

"I wanted to do this the easy way-" I hissed into his ear, smiling evilly as I licked the side of his face, "Your blood is delicious."

He just screamed, a mixture of agony and disgust, then I smiled as we neared the beach's shore, excited to get back to land.

"We're going home, Manta! Aren't you happy?" I asked him, but only got a groan as a reply.

I looked down with a frown, noticing that he was losing too much blood, and asked, "So what was the experiment?"

He lazily glared at me, "You are nothing but a pitiful failure. We were supposed to clone you but..." He drifted off, eyes wide at the realization.

"But what?"

"They were defective..."

I laughed loudly at this, shaking my head at his and the Light's stupidity. "You can't expect a psycho to have sane clones, Manta! Even the dumbest Bat knows this!"

He seemed to want to say something, but the announcement of us reaching the beach interrupted him. "Ah, home sweet home!" I exclaimed as I walked towards the opening ramp, hearing some scuffling behind me.

"You cannot leave me like this! It is dishonorable!" Manta yelled after me, making me groan and slump my shoulders.

"Must I do _everything_ here?" I groaned, then headed back to him and raised my hand over his head.

"Wait, you are not going to k-" He started to scream, but my vibrating hand causing his head to explode stopped him short.

I smiled at my handiwork, then clapped my hands together and got off his submarine thing. "Ah, fresh air!" I stretched my arms over my head as I breathed in the beautiful scent of the beach, suddenly remembering all the good times with Kaldur.

A primal voice in my head told me to track the Atlantean down and hug him, posses him once more, but a smarter voice told me that I had to find my way in this new world now.

"You're right, voice in my head!" I exclaimed, pointing up at the sky. "To Bludhaven to start over a new life it is!"

And with that I started speeding towards the murky city, not minding the burn that came to my feet as they hit the pavement and bled. To my new beginning.

**I know it's dark and really un-Wally-like, but it has to be this way! He's a psychopath, Hello!**

**But, please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

Ah, Bludhaven. Damp, dark, and no such thing as sympathy or empathy. The humans in this hell hole were as evil as Ra's al Ghul and as insane as the Joker. Of course, not all of them belonged in the darkest pits of Tartarus, but the great majority found themselves fighting in nicely in my list of degenerates.

"Hey, _papi_, want to have _fun_?" A dark-skinned woman with black hair and tattered clothing that revealed way too much tried to tell me seductively, eyes half lidded as she rode out her high.

I smirked at her, offering my hand to her, "Oh, I would love to, seeing how you're such a pearl in this dreary world," She scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion, but let me finish talking, "But I have some business to take care of."

"Oh." She pouted, but turned around and gasped as she saw a limo with a hand signaling to her, and left me.

I frowned while shaking my head, all the while she sauntered towards the limo to seductively lean in, making me feel sick. These people all disgust me.

"Ignore the damned, Walls." I muttered to myself as I turned around, hastily walking away.

My hands were deep in the pockets of a hoodie; which I had been lucky enough to _borrow_ off of a drug dealer I had found; and my soiled converse; which I had grabbed from some random telephone wire; hit the pavement in a clockwork of 'click-clack' rapidly sounding as I did my best to get to my destination.

I looked up at the broken-down, dirty, and just plain ugly building that stood in between a kind of brothel and a Supermarket, gargoyles standing on its roof. But, those gargoyles didn't seem threatening. No, they seemed depressed and like they wanted to get the hell out of their perches.

"Welcome to the Bludhaven Library." A gravelly and ancient woman's voice greeted me as I pushed open the heavy wooden door, the damn thing creaking as it gave me trouble to open. "Don't bring in any drugs unless you want the police to find you."

I scoffed as I looked at her, finding a dusty shell of a human being reading a dried up book behind a desk, glasses too big for her tiny evil face.

"You won't have any problems with me, ma'am." I told her politely, quietly walking up to her. "Would you care to show me where the computers are?"

She looked me up and down, eyebrow raised in mild interest, and answered, "Head up the stairs to your left and go right. The computers aren't too new, but they get the work done."

I nodded, smiling gratefully at her, then asked, "Are there any newspapers from around last year or so?"

She now looked at me suspiciously, whatever kind of niceness; if there was any to start with; vanishing. "What are you doing kid? No one around here researches _anything_."

I continued smiling lightly, even though in the back of my head there was an incessant ticking that told me to put an end to her, and told her, "Ma'am, I'm not from around here. I'm actually looking for my biological father, and I thought that getting closer to his home would be the best course of action."

She only raised an eyebrow at me; still suspecting of me; and said, "The newspapers are right beside the computers."

"Thank you." And with that I went to walk away, hands stuck in my pockets once more.

"And Kid?" She called after me, making me slowly turn around.

"Yeah?"

She eyed me up and down once more, "You should get rid of those pants. Don't want the police catching you with any kind of substance on, if you know what I mean."

I nodded gratefully at her, "Thank you." then went to trudge up the long spiral staircase to the left of her desk, which was old and degraded.

Holding on to the dusty hand railed I climbed up the untrustworthy steps, the wood creaking with each step I took. Looking around the damn place, it wasn't very spectacular. Imagine a fifteenth century brothel with damaged bookshelves filled with tattered books and a Gothic atmosphere and you have the Bludhaven Library. It was very dark, considering it was a library, and it looked like the only people here were the librarian, myself, and two random people hooking up with needles stuck in their arms. Idiots.

I spotted the ancient looking computer as I reached the top step, the top floor of the library a little less full of shit as the first, but still looking like a hoarder's paradise.

"Well, let's take a look at what we have here." I muttered to myself as I cracked my knuckles, sitting down in the dusty and disgusting chair, which clearly held signs of other actions that weren't sitting happening there.

I moved the mouse a little after I had pressed the power button, waiting for this damn archaic piece of shit to work. It slowly booted up, the screen appearing so old to compared to the ones I was used to that I was just ready to throw a fit and kill the three other people in this place... But I controlled myself, knowing that killing would get me nowhere.

In this precise moment.

"First up, let's see how I died." I muttered to myself as I clicked on the Internet icon, drumming my fingers impatiently as it took almost a half hour to load.

But, I'm a speedster, so... It was really like half a minute.

"Finally!" I groaned to myself as Google loaded up, allowing me to type of the Vigilante on the search box, beginning my hours of research in this dump.

_'The threat of the Vigilante has finally ended! Numerous reports have reached police all around the world, many retelling the story of the death of this danger to society. Apparently he attacked a group of superheroes in Gotham Docks, resulting in a large fight that neither Artemis; Green Arrow's _former_ sidekick; nor himself walked out of. _

_But, do not worry. His memory will be just another stain in the finely woven cloth that is America, while Artemis will be given a real hero's honor.'_

_'Well, he's dead now. Our own superhero has died. I say that the Justice League is saying that he fell into the water where we cannot recover his body because their actually keeping him with them, to torture him and show him the 'error' of his ways. I say it's utter bullshit.'_

I smirked at the second article I read, glad to know that at least _one_ person believed in me. I continued reading more online articles and a few blogs, managing to piece it all together. Apparently I; the Vigilante; had gone to face the covert group of operatives from the League to kill them. A huge battle started where many people were injured; it pissed me off to see the pictures of Kaldur and the rest of the good teammates hurt and battered; and Artemis and myself had died.

Apparently before I died legally I had jumped the docks, where Robin tried to save me; save me my ass; but just did not succeed. The blonde archer had a freaking huge funeral, while I just got a small plaque in a bastard's home, my head mounted to remind him of the failure that an anti-mainstream anti-hero could be.

"This is utter bullshit." I told myself, then looked up Kid Flash's death.

A good twenty minutes of research passed and I already had the story of my hero counterpart's death. Well, a week after the ordeal with the Vigilante the team had been sent on a simple mission of snatch and grab were they were met with someone snatching Kid Flash. Long story short, baddies got me, bombed the place, and I got a hero's memorial as well.

And after I went searching for Wallace Rudolph West... But came up short. After about ten minutes of dead ends I threw my hands up and went searching for the rest of my team. Aqualad equals nothing, Superboy, M'gann, and Robin were still in the hero role, but Zatanna and Rocket were said to be nearing retirement. Garfield was now apparently Beast Boy and Red Hood had turned good. Surprisingly enough, Ivy and Bane hadn't been heard of for a year now. Neither the Vigilante.

Now kind of knowing what fates had befallen my past friend I went to searching through the newspapers for Wallace.

Thirty minutes of shifting around more newspapers that I have even come in contact with in my whole life and I still had nothing on Wallace.

"Well fuck this shit." I muttered to myself as I got up, patting at my knees that I just knew were full of dust.

I made my way down the stairs, finding the librarian reading the same dusty book with the same bored expression but no drug addicts dry humping on one another.

"Thank you for the help, ma'am." I told her as I walked out, pushing the door open as she only mumbled a goodbye.

I breathed in the toxic smell that was uniquely Bludhaven, spotting a pimp slapping one of his hoes as a black man stood behind them, stern frown with arms crossed.

Well, I haven't murdered anyone in a long time (excluding Manta of course, I'm going to call that a warm-up homicide) so killing a measly pimp and pitiful black man wouldn't be half bad.

Quickly I sped up to the three, breaking the black man's neck then throwing my knee into the pimp's groin, leaving him and the girl startled as they could only see a blur now. Quickly I grabbed the girl and sped her inside the library, knowing that she would be safe in there for a little while, then went back and broke the pimp's neck. All of this in a five second time span.

With two bodies at my feet I looked up at the sky, my eyes locking on the gray and murky moon, wondering where Kaldur and the rest were now.

Where, oh where, could my Atlantean Prince be?

"First up, clothing." I shook myself out of the depressing thoughts by remembering the task at hand, which was getting back in the normal rhythm of this world, most probably getting a job and sustenance, _then_ hunting down the damned Bird that destroyed my life.

Taking off the black man's pants I cut them with my vibrating hand; got to love super speed; then hid inside an alley, replacing my bloodied pants with his own. And after I had done that, I threw both bodies into the alley and walked away, whistling a random tune that came to me.

I reached a nice-looking Chinese restaurant that was open 24/7, which had a television and a newspaper stand. Going inside and ordering my food; which I payed for with the money the dude had in his pockets; I sat down and calmly read a newspaper as a sports game hummed on in the television.

_"Hey, I'm going to put on the news!"_ The old Chinese man that had tended to me yelled at his wife, who only yelled back some obscene words that I would not repeat.

The man only chuckled as he changed the channel, making me think that was a nightly occurrence. On the news a story about the Justice League was playing, leaving me to lower my newspaper to look at it.

"Wallace!" He yelled as he rang a bell, making me smile and nod at him.

"That Justice League sure is something, huh?" I asked as I walked up to him, loving the fact that I was the only customer at this hour.

He frowned up at the television, shrugging. "They could be better. Get us out of this hell hole!" His wife piped in, making him glare back at her.

_"Keep it quiet! Get to making the dumplings!"_

_"Shut up if you want a bed to lie in!"_ Was what she answered, making me chuckle.

He looked down strangely at me, asking "You speak Cantonese?" in a very surprised tone.

I nodded, smiling at his astonished tone. "I may not look like much, sir, but I am very smart. Graduated high school with top honors."

His wife suddenly barged in, thin with her hair pulled back in a tight bun that allowed me to see all her frown lines. "If you so smart, why you here in Hell hole?"

I scratched at the back of my head, chuckling slightly, "Hit a rough patch with my parents after graduation. Couldn't get any help and all the colleges denied me. It's a _very_ long story."

They both nodded, then started speaking in another language that I didn't know, leaving me to smile at how smart they were. No, not smart. Just aware of the dangers in this place.

"Do you want job?" The man asked, leaving me stunned.

"What?"

"You speak Cantonese, you seem hardworking, and our son just left so we need all the help we can get." The woman explained, as the man nodded.

"I don't even have a place to stay."

"Perfect! You can stay in guest room upstairs!" The man told me, smiling widely as he clapped his hands.

"Really?" I asked them, getting a nod from both people. "Well, I'm in."

Then there was an explosion from the television, making all of us turn to it. It showed a picture of Robin giggling wildly as he soared to the camera crew, Joker in hand as a factory was ablaze.

"Like Chi-Kung said, would be better if they got us out of this hell hole and stopped show boating!" The man exclaimed, as I glared at the screen as the bird got his interview done.

"Would be much better, Sir."

**Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

I moved up to the guest room that same night. Chi-Kung; the woman who loved to curse and scream in any language she had available; ended up being a very nice woman, mean only because of the rough patches she had been met with throughout her life. Just from looking at the photos and various furniture around their house, anyone could tell that their lives had not been a fairy tale.

The man; named Kevin; was a second generation chinese immigrant, meaning his parents had moved here when he was younger, but he had always found himself with very little money because of his ethnicity.

"Wally! Get up! I need you to get the mail!" Chi-Kung yelled as she barged into my room, making me groan as she threw the blinds open, letting murky sun light shine through.

"Give me some time to dress, ma'am." I told her, my sheets around my naked body.

She glared at me, but still left the room, allowing me time to get up and stretch, then throw on some clothes that had belonged to their son. From what I had gathered they had three children, and they were all making their way, the youngest being the one that had promised his parents that he would get them out of here.

I now were a clean gray shirt with some jeans; both which fit a bit too big, seeing how the son was pretty tall; and put on my dingy converse, then walked out of the room, placing the red and gold cap they had given me to identify myself as their worker.

"Oh..." Kevin gasped as I walked through the curtain that acted as my door, all the while I yawned and stretched.

"Anything wrong, Kevin?" Chi-Kung asked her husband, who only smiled sadly as he shook his head.

"I am just reminded of Xavier. Wallace doesn't have the hair or the eyes, but..."

Chi-Kung looked me up and down, but I just stayed silent, deciding to let them finish speaking. "He has the same body build." Chi-Kung finished, to which Kevin only nodded.

I scratched the back of my neck, feeling bad now, and pointed to my room, "If you'd like, I can change. I'm sure my clothes from yesterday arent so bad."

Whatever fleeting moment of warmth and caring Chi-Kung had left as soon as I spoke those words and she quickly glared at me once more. "You look fine, Wallace! Now eat up so that you can go run errands for us!"

I raised my hands up in defense and sat down at the small table, Chi-Kung placing a plate of dumplings in front me. I bit into them happily, grateful for having a home-cooked meal for once in my life; seeing how my parents weren't the best cooks and my relationship with my uncles became strained; and ate them rapidly.

"What do you need me to do?" I asked her as soon as I gave her the plate raising my cap and passing my hand through my bright red hair.

She frowned as her husband whistled, cleaning the dishes happily. "You need hair cut."

I pursed my lips at her, grabbing the end of my hair, which was a bit past my ears. "Nah, it's fine. When I can comfortably make a ponytail, _that's_ when it's too long."

She nodded, then grabbed a paper from the fridge, handing it to me. "You have to pick-up our dry-cleaning, grab some vegetables for the restaurant, cash in this check," She handed said paper to me, "And after you're done with that, you will be on delivery route."

I nodded and went to the door, placing on my cap as I saluted at them. They had left me with a moped that used to belong to their son, but I insisted on just walking, knowing that I would be faster than that anyways.

I ran all around Bludhaven doing my chores, whistling as random people screamed at the gust that followed me, finding a sense of peace at what I was doing. No, I wasn't killing all the people that deserved to go to hell, but at least I was helping a couple that really deserved to be saved.

Stopping by the bank, I sighed at the one chore I dreaded to do, not sure as to how I could cash this check without alerting anybody. I know that I hadn't changed much in the past year I had been out; my theory was that the Light froze me like they did Roy to try and clone me; so last I checked in the mirror, I looked almost the same. My hair was longer and my eyes more dimmer, but that was it.

"Ah, fook it. I can take them all on." I muttered to myself as I pushed open the doors of the bank, still amazed that it seemed that Bludhaven was stuck in perpetual darkness.

Even in the morning it seemed as dark as the bottom of the ocean, with lifeless souls drifting here and there, not really doing anything except for thinking of their next high. Why in the blue hell did I choose this place to be my temporary H.Q?

* * *

An alarm sounded in the Watchtower, grabbing the attention of Superboy and Beast Boy, who were both sitting in the monitor room as part of their punishment.

"Excitement?" Garfield asked as he morphed into his monkey self, jumping over Superboy's shoulder as the older teen went running to the machine that had started blaring out of nowhere.

"Don't know." Superboy grunted, swatting away at Garfield's hand as the boy tried to poke at the machine. "Would you quit it?"

The green skinned teen only chuckled nervously, muttered a sorry, then let Superboy do what he needed. You see, this alarm was a special kind of alarm that alerted the League of any lost or perceived dead criminals and heroes appearing once more and it was connected to every camera in this Earth.

Imagine his surprise when he saw a red head with clothes that were a bit too big for him cashing in a check, smiling and flirting with the older woman in the front desk.

"Well... Shit..." He breathed, which made Garfield jump on him once more.

"What does that mean, Supey? Is it Deadpool? Deathstroke? Ra's al Ghul? Do we have to alert the League?" He asked nonstop, causing Superboy to glare coldly at him.

"Shut up before I shut you up." Superboy growled, causing Garfield to squeak in surprise and hide behind the machinery.

"What's gotten into _your _ass?" Garfield mumbled, but Superboy ignored him as he kept his eyes glued to the screen.

The teen now withdrew cash, unashamed as he flirted with any woman that came within an inch of him, causing Superboy to smile sadly.

"He hasn't changed at all."

"Who hasn't changed?" This was a new voice, causing Superboy to look up as Miss Martian and Rocket walked into the room.

"I don't know! Super Idiot over here hasn't told me anything since the damn alarm rang!" Garfield answered as he bounded towards the women, getting a glare from M'gann.

"How many times have I had to scold you over swearing, Garfield?" She asked, receiving a nervous chuckle from the changeling.

"Many?" He asked, which got a chuckle from Raquel who had walked towards Superboy.

"What's on your mind, Supey?" She asked, hand on his shoulder as she leaned over him.

His face was scrunched up as the cameras followed the red head down the street, then lost him as he took off running in speeds too fast for any normal human being.

"We have a code W." He muttered, low enough for her to hear, but not Garfield.

M'gann gasped, covering her mouth as her eyes widened. Conner frowned deeply at her reaction, all the while Rocket crossed her arms, eyes stinging. She still hated how she was affected so easily by something that had happened a whole year ago.

"Are we going to tell the League?" M'gann asked, floating towards the machine to stare at the screen.

"I don't know." Conner answered, passing a heavy hand through his hair.

Garfield was looking at all his elders oddly, then shrugged and decided to bound up to the Zeta Machine, wanting to see if Wolf was up for games. He really didn't care about their reactions, he was used to them getting overemotional to some stuff, so he just left them to their devices.

"We can't. They'll start a man-hunt as soon as they find out where this happened." Rocket told them, furthering their worries.

"Well what are we to do?" M'gann asked, looking at her two teammates.

They just looked at each other, none knowing what to say.

* * *

"Special Delivery!" I exclaimed as I knocked on the door, balancing the large order of Chinese food in one arm.

I waited patiently as the lumbering footsteps neared, somewhat happy at the good day I had. Nothing bad had happened and I didn't have to kill anyone. Hmm, who would've known that working for nice people would fulfill my need for spilled blood.

"How much will that be, _chico_?" A very familiar gruff voice asked me as soon as the door opened, making me gasp at the giant that stood in front of me.

"_Bane?_"

**Please review.**


End file.
